


Moving Forward (One Kiss at a Time)

by Tahlruil



Series: Loving You Is Easy (It's Life That's Hard) [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Artist Steve Rogers, Established Relationship, Hammer is a Jerk, How Do I Tag, I should be sleeping, M/M, POV Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Sexual Harassment, Steve Rogers Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 09:19:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11575092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tahlruil/pseuds/Tahlruil
Summary: Things are finally starting to get back to normal, and to celebrate Steve accompanies Tony to the most awful, annoying party ever.For the 'slime' prompt.





	Moving Forward (One Kiss at a Time)

**Author's Note:**

> Just as a warning - there is a brief episode of sexual harassment, mostly in the form of unwanted advances and an ass-grab.
> 
> So I wrote this up real quick, and I didn't really edit it but I have to go to bed now because wow it's late and I have work in like, eight hours. XD Gonna get a BINGO, dammit. This is probably a stretch for the prompt, but for some reason when I saw 'slime' all I could think was 'Justin Hammer'. XD
> 
> Comments? Please? :'D

“Steeeeeeeve.”

“Toooooony.”

“Why must you mock me?”

“Sweetheart, I’m not mocking you.” Steve took in the pout on Tony’s lips and couldn’t help but chuckle. “Okay, maybe a little. But that’s because you’re acting like a child.”

“Am not.”

“Are so.”

“Steeeeeeeeve…” Tony purposefully collapsed onto the floor, going limp. So yeah – child or cat. Either way, it was both hilarious and incredibly melodramatic. “Why is Pepper making me do this? It’s horrible. Awful. Inhumane. Worst thing ever. Why does she hate me, Steve? Why?”

“Pepper doesn’t hate you, you goof. And it’s a party, not a torture session.”

“But it’ll _feel_ like torture.”

“Tony. It can’t be that bad.” 

“You have clearly not met Justin Hammer,” Tony challenged, voice mulish. “For that I offer both my congratulations and very sincere envy. The man is a creep, Steve. A creepy creep who creeps and attaches himself to me like… like a fucking barnacle on a whale-”

“I think you mean ship.”

“-and follows me everywhere. He thinks we’re like… rivals and besties at the same time or something. The man is barely a blip on my radar, Steve, but he’s obsessed. He tries to act like me – or a past, terrible version of me – talk like me, _dress_ like me, date people I’ve dated or am dating… fuck. Someday he’s going to skin me and wear me as a meat-suit disguise.”

“I promise not to be fooled.” Tony glared at him for a few seconds, then rolled over onto his stomach. In the process, he got close enough to the couch to snag a throw pillow. Once it was under his head, Tony buried his face in it and let out a loud, pained groan.

“Yuk it up Steve. It’s easy for you to laugh. You don’t have a lame-ass low level stalker trying to be the worst version of you that you ever were. And now I have to go to his _party_ , because Pepper is the worst. And you’re mocking me and making jokes. Thanks Steve. Really helps.”

He felt a flush crawl over his face as guilt swamped him. Yes banter was part of their relationship – a fun, healthy part that they both enjoyed. But the counselor they were seeing had pointed out that there were occasions when their eagerness to engage each other that way meant they might overlook situations that were actually important. He was right, and Steve was pretty sure that even if Tony’s voice was still playful, this might be one of those times.

“I’m sorry, Tony.” Crossing the living room, Steve sank to the floor to stretch out on his side next to his partner. “You’re right – I’m not being very supportive.” He reached out with one hand to stroke Tony’s hair. The noise he made had Steve deciding that ‘cat-like’ was a better descriptor for the man’s current behavior than ‘child-like’.

“You want to be supportive?”

“Of course Tony.”

“Well then here.” Tony pulled the pillow out from under him and held it out to Steve. “Smother me please. Death would be preferable to an evening spent with Justin Hammer.”

“Oh my God.” Steve couldn’t help but laugh as he grabbed the pillow. “You are ridiculous.” He gently bopped Tony on the head, then reached out and poked Tony’s cheek. “How can I help you sweetheart?” After a second, Tony rolled to face him, a speculative look in his eyes.

“Can you get Pepper to take back this awful decree?”

“I highly doubt it.”

“Could you do your vigilante street justice thing and beat up Justin Hammer? He’s totally a creepy creeper who creeps, and you could take him with no problem. I’ll even bail you out of jail if he presses charges.”

“So generous,” Steve teased, laying his own head on the pillow. “And no, I won’t commit assault for you. Next idea.”

“You’re sure you won’t smother me?”

“No dice sweetheart. You’d be gone and I’d miss you too much.”

“Then you can’t help me.” The way Tony wriggled closer reminded Steve of a worm, but he valiantly fought back a laugh. “Thanks for the thought though babe. I appreciate it.” The kiss he got from Tony stifled any urge to laugh; it was clinging and sweet, unhurried and without the hesitance they’d both grown used to. After a few moments, Tony’s hand moved to cup Steve’s cheek and one of his legs hooked over Steve’s. Using that bit of leverage, he slowly drew Steve closer until they were pressed together from chest to thigh.

It happened sometimes when they snuggled, sure, but this was the first time in a long time that it was a potential make out position. Excitement and the good kind of nervousness fluttered in his stomach as he wrapped his arms around Tony’s shoulders. When his boyfriend’s free hand slid to his waist, he made a soft sound of encouragement – he didn’t want this moment to end.

When Steve felt Tony’s tongue sweep over his lower lip in a searching, questioning move, Steve opened his mouth easily. He could have cried in relief when Tony’s tongue surged forward to tangle with his own. Any time Steve had tried to initiate a kiss like this, Tony had shied away. Tony hadn’t done much more than kiss him open mouthed – no tongue involved – in what felt like forever. Finally, _finally_ a sign that they were really moving forward again. Maybe they were finally done just treading water; maybe they were finally reaching a place where their feet could touch the sand again. Seeing a couple’s counselor had been one of his better ideas for sure.

They spent a long time there on the floor, exchanging kisses that went from lazy to passionate and back again. It was like their first time making out all over again. Tony mapped every inch of his mouth, then encouraged Steve to re-learn his own. At some point they rolled until Steve was on his back with Tony draped over him. He rested just enough on his elbows to keep his weight from being oppressive.

He’d only been ‘pinned’ by Tony like this a few times before, and it had always scared him a little. Now? Now he just felt loved and _safe_. After all their talks about boundaries and what they were comfortable with, Steve knew exactly how this would end. Sure enough, once things got too heated they both backed off, panting against each other’s mouths. After a few heartbeats, Tony settled his head on Steve’s shoulder, letting out a soft noise of contentment.

“Missed that,” he murmured, making Steve laugh quietly.

“Me too Tony. Me too.” Steve slid his hands up his boyfriend’s back to tangle them in Tony’s hair. “Now get offa me. You’re heavy.”

“Why do you have to be so demanding right now? I just put so much effort into kissing you senseless babe, but here you are spouting sense. It’s just hurtful Steve. Hurtful.” As he was griping though, he was rolling them over to put Steve on top. When he lifted his head, Steve shifted the throw pillow until Tony could rest on it once more.

Some part of him was sure he should be offended by the way Tony assumed he could stand supporting Steve’s weight long enough to actually _need_ the pillow. If he didn’t know he was a scrawny shrimp, he would absolutely be insulted.

“I was senseless until you smooshed me. Now be quiet and let me bask, okay?”

“Mmm. It _was_ nice.”

“So nice.” Steve agreed, nuzzling the hollow of Tony’s throat. When he felt a hand slide up his side and then cup the back of his neck, he made his own quiet noise of happiness.

“I’m glad we got to have this again before I die of boredom and awfulness at Hammer’s fucking party. Light a candle for me, okay babe?”

“You are a drama llama.”

“You’re so mean to me.”

“You like it. And I love you.”

“Love you too, meanie butt.”

“And about the party – I think I know how I can help.”

“Pillow me.”

“Oh my God. I am not smothering you. What I _will_ do is go with you.”

“… come again? Steve you hate these things.”

“Yeah, but again – I love you. You are dreading this party more than I’ve ever seen before. So I can put on a tux and play nice with a bunch of rich snobs for a night if it helps you feel even a little better about going.”

“You’ll be in the tabloids again.”

“Happy will be thrilled to be able to escort me everywhere again. He might even get to tackle someone, which will just make his whole life.”

“We’ll have to get you fitted for a new tux.”

“And I’ll bitch but put up with it.”

“You’re going to be bored to tears.”

“Probably. But we’ll help each other through it.”

“And if that lame-o creepy creeper is creeping on me too hard?”

“I will do the ‘vigilante street justice thing’ and kick his ass. I won’t let him wear your skin sweetheart.”

“Best boyfriend ever. Thanks Steve.” With that, they fell into another round of making out. Steve ended up with three hickies, and never once did he feel nervous fear twist his stomach.

~.~.~

The party was as awful and boring as Steve remembered such events being. The booze was good but he could only have a few sips every couple hours. All the food was delicious but tiny, so while his tongue was happy his stomach was deeply unsatisfied. Tony had to keep schmoozing people who looked at Steve like he was something nasty they’d discovered on the bottom of their shoes, and Pepper’d been glaring at him for what felt like a solid three hours.

He hadn’t even met Justin Hammer yet, and the ‘smothered by a pillow’ option was looking better by the second.

At least Tony had stuck pretty close by. His boyfriend was getting kind of tipsy, but Steve couldn’t blame him. Tony knew how much he could have before he got sloppy drunk, and Happy’d be driving them home. Hell, if Steve could get tipsy without doing things that would delight Tony, infuriate Pepper and embarrass himself… he totally would. Then the party might actually be bearable. Tony was so fucking lucky he had actual alcohol tolerance. Bastard.

For maybe the fifth time since the nightmare had begun, Tony wasn’t stuck by his side. Steve missed the warmth of Tony’s arm around his waist and his snarky comments in his ear. The wife of some CEO (Steve never really paid attention to their names) had demanded a dance. Tony had reluctantly (with Steve’s mischievous urging) to humor her. Tony’d been making funny faces at him over her shoulder for the whole dance; he was terrible for finding it as funny as he did. It was a good thing the dance was almost over, because soon he’d be giggling uncontrollably.

“Well well well! Look who we have here!” The voice was nasally and full of the kind of smug arrogance that ran rampant in Tony’s circle of wealthy ‘friends’. “I knew Tony was going to grace us with his presence – how could he pass up the opportunity to come to one of _my_ parties.” Somehow, Steve thought the coming conversation might cause his eyes to roll right out of his head. Sending up a prayer for patience, he pasted a smile on his face and turned toward the speaker… and stopped, blinking several times in surprise.

The guy (who Steve was pretty sure was Hammer) looked pretty ridiculous. That might be because Steve was used to Tony, who so effortlessly carried off the look Hammer was trying desperately to copy. The garish yellow of his sunglasses clashed violently with the sickly green of his tie – which was complete with a purple paisley pattern – that reeked of trying way too hard to look ‘cool’. Even the neutral gray of his suit couldn’t save the awful color combination, and the cut of said suit (the cut Tony favored) did nothing to flatter him. All in all, Steve was unimpressed.

“So of course he’s here, right? Because the Hammer knows how to paaaartay! What I didn’t know was that he’d be bringing such a _fine_ specimen with him.” The man pulled off his shades and whipped a pair of regular glasses out of his pocket. Once they were on, he gave Steve a smile that was probably supposed to be charming. “Justin Hammer, happy to meet you.”

Steve took the offered hand, because his ma’d raised him polite. “Steve Rog- ah!” Instead of shaking his hand, Justin had lifted it to his lips for a kiss… and Steve was a hundred percent sure that he’d just felt the man’s _tongue_ swipe over his skin.

“I know how you feel baby – hits you all at once sometimes. The great Justin Hammer, right here in the flesh and at your service. Bam, Baby!” Hammer _still_ hadn’t let go of his hand despite gesturing with both of his own. As a result, Steve’s arm was nearly pulled out of its socket, but Hammer didn’t even seem to notice. He also didn’t seem to notice that Steve was trying discreetly to tug his hand away. “It’s overwhelming. Don’t worry – you’ll adjust. And don’t worry your pretty little head about introductions. I know _exactly_ who you are toots. Tony’s latest flame – and boy are you smokin’! Seriously though, join me for a dance. Tony and I are old friends – we go way back, so I just have to get to know you too.”

He’d still had no luck getting his hand back, and now Hammer was towing him toward the dance floor. He could get away, he was sure, but it might cause a scene. Most people at these things already sneered at him and questioned why Tony was still ‘playing’ with him – he didn’t need to give them any more ammunition. So he followed along but didn’t bother to hide his displeasure. He noticed a few sympathetic glances, but no one tried to save him. Well, Tony seemed to be trying to, but that CEO’s wife was proving tenacious in her attempt to get a second dance.

So Steve found himself dancing with Justin Hammer. Justin Hammer, who was quickly cementing himself in Steve’s mind as the most annoying person on the face of the planet. At first it was just the chatter – most of it centered around either Hammer himself or Tony. That was super irritating, but then he noticed that Hammer was drifting closer and he… he was sniffing Steve’s hair and smiling an obnoxious smile. What the fuck.

Just as he was thinking it might be time to end their dance early… Hammer slid his hands downward and grabbed Steve’s ass.

Steve, who had promised ‘vigilante street justice’ if Hammer messed with Tony, froze.”

“Mmmm… nice! You know, back in the day, Tony and I… shared sometimes. Not at the same time, because we were not that tight, but still. So how ‘bout it Steve? Interested in a little-” Suddenly, much to Steve’s relief, Hammer was wrenched away from him. Giving a shiver, Steve hugged himself, trying not to feel… dirty. Hammer was grabby, and that wasn’t on him. At least Tony had separated them – now he could think again, and he just might have to kick the crap out of their host.

“Hammer,” Tony started, a dangerous note in his voice that Steve had never heard before. “Why the _fuck_ were you groping my boyfriend?”

“Hey hey hey! Hands off the suit, man!” Hammer pulled out of Tony’s grip, straightening his clothes once he was free. “And Steve and I were just getting acquainted Tones. Tony! Heeeey Tony! You know me. Always attracted to a pretty face, and you always know the prettiest ones. Just wanted to say hi, introduce myself so he knows where to come once you cast him aside. You know, like that actress and the model and oooh, that baseball player was _fine_. I want Steve to know his options, once you two are over.” Hammer was smiling and so was Tony, but on the whole their expressions were far from pleasant.

Also, what the fuck? What the hell was Hammer talking about?

“Steve’s more than a pretty face, you slimy son of a bitch.” Tony was still smiling, thought now Steve was reminded of a dog baring its teeth. “And you don’t get to touch him – or _anyone_ for that matter – without asking permission. I know for a fucking fact that he never gave his.” Hamer burst out laughing, and Steve saw Tony’s hands clench into fists.

“Oh… oh that’s rich coming from you Tones, my man! No touching. Riiiight. Good one.” They had an audience, Steve realized. There was a circle of people watching, one that was slowly getting bigger and fuck Hammer for causing the scene he’d been trying to avoid.

“I never touch anybody without asking first, jerkoff. Now apologize to Steve.”

“Wow. Woah. Serious then huh? Sorry Tones, didn’t know you liked this one so much. Hands off from now on, promise.”

“I don’t need your apology, Hammer. I don’t give a single fuck about anything you have to say to me. But if you don’t apologize to Steve, Hammer, I’ll knock your teeth out. Then I will _destroy_ your company, Justin. I’ve ignored your crappy business for a long time, but if you don’t apologize to the person you actually wronged, I won’t be so kind.”

“Hey. Tones. Tony. Calm down, will ya? This isn’t a big deal, right? Don’t let some little fling get between us, huh? Heeeey – how long we known each other? Forever right? We’ve always pushed each other to be our best, Tones, and I appreciate that. Friends for life! So you’re right – I shouldn’t have been sniffing around until after it was over. Sorry Steve. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t ‘upset me’, asshole,” Steve ground out, wishing they were discussing this somewhere more private. “You grabbed my ass. What the fuck? What the actual fuck?”

“Woah, woah. Tony, man. I know you’ve been out of the circuit for a while, pretending to be all squeaky clean, but come on. Control your bitch, would you?” Tony lunged for Hammer, but Steve got there first. It was nice of Tony to come to his defense, but now that he was over his shock he was perfectly capable of defending his own honor. His fist hit Hammer’s nose with a sickening crunch, one Steve knew meant he’d broken it. The thought gave him a vicious sense of satisfaction, especially when Hammer squealed like a stuck pig as he staggered backwards. “MY NOSE! Holy fucking shit, you broke my nose! What the hell, man! It’s my party and I didn’t even _do_ anything man!”

“You didn’t do anything? You _licked_ me and grabbed my ass!” Steve bellowed back, deciding their audience could go fuck themselves.

“He licked you?” Tony sounded murderous, but didn’t try to step in – Steve was warmed by the knowledge that Tony was allowing him to handle this himself. “Gross Hammer. Just… gross. Steve we’re going to need to get you a rabies shot.”

“I love you, Tony, but be quiet.”

“Kick his ass babe – I’m right behind you with the bail money!”

“Get out!” Hammer shouted, still holding his nose. The sight of blood dripping from between his fingers probably shouldn’t make him as happy as it did. “Get out, the both of you! Barred! You are barred and banned from my property! Get your asses out of here before I call security. I’m coming after you Tony. You, and your company, and your guy – I’m coming after it all! You better-”

Steve ignored Hammer as Tony slipped both arms around his waist from behind, tugging him close. Pepper suddenly appeared at their side, looking strangely not angry. In fact, Steve would swear he could see a small smirk on her face. “Tony, Steve? I believe we should take our leave. Thank you for having us, Justin. It was a lovely party.” If Hammer heard her, he didn’t give any indication of it – he was still yelling and threatening and bleeding. As one they turned and headed for the door, Steve still tucked in Tony’s arms. “Happy should be pulling around front in a few moments. The night’s still young and I’m in the mood for a burger.”

“I could totally go for a burger. Steve?” Pepper glanced his way, and while that tiny smirk was gone she wasn’t glaring or snarling at him anymore and that was absolutely a mark in the ‘Win’ column. Maybe… maybe she was ready to move forward too.

“Yeah… burgers sound good. Not one of those fancy places though.”

“Of course not – there’s a greasy little spoon I know that has the best bacon cheeseburgers and chili fries I’ve ever had.” Pepper really didn’t seem like the type to frequent diners, but then maybe he’d never really known her as well as he’d thought. As they exited the party, she was already taking her hair out of the complicated, elegant bun, letting it fall around her face in a fiery mane. “Their milkshakes are decent too.”

“Do they have strawberry milkshakes?”

“Steve… what kind of diner _doesn’t_ have strawberry milkshakes?” While he and Tony bickered, Pepper looked on in a cool, assessing manner. He got the feeling he was being judged, that she was trying to decide if he was worth a second chance. Steve really, really hoped Ms. Pepper Potts gave him another shot – he wanted the chance to get to know the lady who took down her hair, kicked off her heels and frequented crappy little diners with amazing fries and really shitty coffee.

Dealing with Hammer the slimeball had been awful… but if it got him Pepper back, he supposed it might have been worth it.


End file.
